Existing Home Sales Decline -2.5% in November – Year-Over-Year are 25.8% Better

The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) is reporting that total existing home sales for November, which are completed transaction that include single-family homes, townhomes condominiums and co-ops decreased -2.5% from October, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.69 million in November. However, on a year-over-year basis they were 25.8% better (5.32 million November 2019). This decline ends five straight months of increases. In prepared remarks Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist said, “Home sales in November took a marginal step back, but sales for all of 2020 are already on pace to surpass last year’s levels. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s amazing that the housing sector is outperforming expectations.” Yun notes that job recoveries have stalled in the past few months, and fast-rising coronavirus cases along with stricter lockdowns have weakened consumer confidence. Yun said he is still looking forward to robust growth in 2021.